Week 7: Famous Last Words

I can't believe it is week seven already. The semester is almost halfway over! This week has been a very busy one, as my coworker left and I am having to cover additional days!

My classes this week have been interesting. In Physics Lab we had and a few interesting labs involving electromagnetic fields. There were about 6 different apparatuses set up at different tables around the room, and each group took turns switching tables, experimenting with phenomenon of electromagnetic fields. Organic Chem lab was a little bit easier this week, as we just did worksheets on infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. This means no lab report due next week!


In Mythology and Folklore this week, I read Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton. I really enjoyed this reading. The folk tales reminded me strongly of Aesop's fables, as many of them involved animals and they all had a lesson to teach.

For my storytelling post this week, I rewrote the Tibetan Folk Tale The Tiger and the Frog. In the original story, there is a hungry tiger who one day while out prowling comes across a small frog. The Tiger's first instinct is to eat the frog up, but this clever frog declares that he is king of all frogs, saying that he can jump any distance and do anything. The frog decides to challenge the Tiger to a contest to who can jump furthest across a nearby river. However, the clever frog bites onto the tigers tail and uses the tiger to catapult himself across the river instead. When they get to the other side, the frog tricks the tiger by spitting up his own fur and claiming he had eaten a tiger the day before. The scared tiger then runs away! I kept my telling of the story mostly the same, but changed the contest to a race.

 (Tiger. Wikimedia Commons)

Essay for Week 7: Tricksters and Fools of Tibetan Folk Tales

Tricksters and fools play a large part in many mythological and folkloric tales. In the Tibeten Folk Tales, we see many examples of these characters.

In the tale The Tiger and the Frog, the trickster Frog creates a ruse that convinces a hungry tiger not to eat him. When the Tiger and the Frog first meet, the Tiger's first instinct is to gobble this small creature up. However, the frog declares that he is king of all frogs, saying that he can jump any distance and do anything. He proceeds to challenge the Tiger to see who can jump further across a nearby river. When the Tiger jumps across, this trickster bites his tail and uses him to get across the river! He then spits up the Tiger's fur and deceives him into believing that it was from a Tiger he had eaten the previous day. The scared Tiger runs away!

(Tiger: Wikimedia Commons)

One of these tricky creatures from the Tibetan Folk Tales falls victim to his own ruse in How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit. This tale begins with a mother tiger bringing a baby fox back to her cub to be a playmate. While out on her hunt one day, this mother tiger finds a baby calf, and brings it back to be a playmate for her cub as well. When the calf arrives,however, the fox becomes jealous. The mother tiger dies, and the trickster fox tells both the calf and the tiger that the other is planning on killing the other! In the end, the calf and the tiger figure out that the fox has tricked them, and instead it the the fox who is made to be a fool.

In the story How the Sacred Duck Got His Yellow Breast, a rabbit and a frog find a golden pot on top of a mountain. Unable to decide who would get the pot, they decide to race for it. The frog, however, knowing that he would be unable to beat the rabbit in a race, gathers two lookalikes to sneak in and take his place along the path!

Storytelling for Week 7: The Tiger and the Frog

Once upon a time, in the rainforest of the amazon, there lived a frog. This frog slept through the day and lived out his nights hopping to and from, eating flies and playing games with his fellow frogs, as did so many other frogs living in the rainforest. Each frog of the forest knew, however, that when daylight approached their games were to end, for the predators that lurked in the rainforest were sure to awaken.

One day, as all the frogs were winding down and preparing for rest, the Frog realized that he had left his glasses out while playing.

"Drats! If I don't go get my glasses now, I may never find them!" said the Frog to himself. "If I hurry I should make it back before daylight."

The Frog quickly dashed into the forest and retrieved his glasses, but he had taken too long; the sun was appearing on the horizon. Just then, the Frog heard rustling from the trees beside him, and soon appeared a large and ferocious tiger. 

(Emerald Glass Frog: Wikimedia Commons)

"Why, hello there little frog. I think you'll make a fine snack on this beautiful morning." said the Tiger, inching his way closer to the Frog.

"Wait!" yelled the frog. "I'm ah.. I'm.. I'm the king of all the frogs! I can do anything and beat anyone!"

"Is that so, little frog?" questioned the Tiger. "Tell me, can you beat me in a race? Can those tiny legs of yours carry you faster than these great haunches of mine?"

"Of course they can!" replied the Frog. "I'll race you straight to the tree trunk down there!"

"Very well." said the Tiger. "On the count of three. One.. Two.. Three!"

On the count of three, the Tiger set off at a rapid speed. The Frog, knowing that he could not beat the Tiger in a flat out sprint, instead jumped and grabbed the Tiger's tail in his mouth.

When the Tiger arrived at the tree trunk, he glanced around and found no sign of the Frog in sight.

"Hah!" laughed the Tiger. "I outpaced him so much he's not even in sight."

"Over here!" said the Frog. "What took you so long?"

The Tiger turned around, startled to see the Frog sitting before him. The Frog spit down in front of the Tiger, cleaning out the fur that had stuck in his mouth from the Tiger's tail.

"That fur, how did you get that in your mouth?" questioned the Tiger.

"That uh.. that's from a Tiger I ate just yesterday!"

Afraid of the Frog's apparent strength and speed, the Tiger ran off into the forest to never be seen by the frog again.

Author's Note: This story is based on The Tiger and the Frog from Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton. This story tells of a hungry tiger who one day comes across a small frog. The Tiger's first instinct is to gobble the frog up, but the frog declares that he is king of all frogs, saying that he can jump any distance and do anything. This frog challenges the Tiger to a contest  as to who can jump across a nearby river. The frog bites onto the tigers tail and uses him to jump across the river. When they get to the other side, the frog tricks the tiger by spitting up his own fur and claiming he had eaten a tiger the day before. Scared, the tiger runs away.

Week 7 Reading Diary: Tibetan Folk Tales

Here are a few stories from Tibetan Folk Tales


The Tiger and the Frog This story tells the tale of a hungry tiger who one day comes across a small frog. The Tiger's first instinct is to gobble the frog up, but the frog declares that he is king of all frogs, saying that he can jump any distance and do anything. This little frog is even brave enough to challenge this Tiger to who can jump across a nearby river! The frog bites onto the tigers tail and uses him to jump across the river. When they get to the other side, the frog tricks the tiger by spitting up his own fur and claiming he had eaten a tiger the day before. Scared, the tiger runs away.

How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit In this tale, a mother tiger brings a baby fox to her cave to be a playmate for her own cub. One day, this mother tiger finds a baby calf while out on her hunt, and brings it back to be a playmate for her cub as well. However, when the calf arrives, the fox becomes jealous and plots against the calf. When the mother tiger dies, the fox tells both the calf and the tiger that the other is planning on killing them. The calf and the tiger figure out that the fox has tricked them, and instead kill the fox!

The Man and the Ghost In this story, a man meets a ghost one day while crossing a river, and tells the ghost that he himself is also a ghost. The two travel together for a while, until the ghost goes into town and steals the soul of the king's son while the man is asleep. The ghost gives the man the soul in a bag, telling him to hold onto it while he attends other business. The man, however, returns the soul to the king's son and receives a vast reward.

The Story of the Three Hunters  This story tells the tale of three married brothers who all lived together in a mountain village with their sister. One day, the two oldest wives become jealous of the sister, and kill her while the brothers are out hunting. The brothers return and discover what the two oldest of the wives have done, and kill them in return.

How the Sacred Duck Got His Yellow Breast. This tale tells of a rabbit and a frog who one day find a golden pot on top of a mountain. Unable to decide who would get the pot, they decide to race to the top of the mountain the next day. The frog, however, knowing that he would be unable to beat the rabbit in a race, gathers two lookalikes to sneak up the mountain and take his place. After "winning" the pot, the frog is unable to get it down the mountain himself, and enlists the help of a duck. This duck takes his half of the pot and smears in on his breast, giving it a golden color.